Dunham looking expand beyond the stage and TV

Jeff Dunham has made a career of making people laugh at the bodies he stores in his trunk.

They're just a bunch of dummies — the bodies, not his fans.

The 50-year-old ventriloquist and stand-up comedian will bring his motley crew of puppets Thursday to the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee as part of his Disorderly Conduct tour.

Known for his Comedy Central specials and appearances on shows including The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Dunham brings a modern-day twist to the classic vaudeville style of ventriloquists such as the legendary Edgar Bergen. Bergen entertained audiences accompanied by his dummy sidekick, Charlie McCarthy.

Dunham's rise to fame began when he received his first Mortimer Snerd dummy at age 8 for Christmas. The next day he began rigorously studying a how-to book containing Bergen's routines in front of a mirror in his Dallas home, according to the New York Times Magazine.

At 27, he made his first appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson alongside Bob Hope and B.B. King. He's come a long way since he landed on Carson's famous couch. In October, Dunham's special "Minding the Monsters" premiered to an audience of 5 million viewers. In 2011, he was ranked as the highest-paid comedian in the U.S. by Forbes.com, raking in a cool $22.5 million.

But Dunham isn't resting on his laurels.

"It's just a journey and planning of doing bigger and better business in any arena where expansion and improvement can build and enhance the other areas of work," he said. "I wouldn't say I've conquered any area, but more that we've done really well in a few areas and it makes me want to make the lesser and new areas be equally as successful."

Dunham said he created his puppets' personalities from "just living life and observing the world." But audience members shouldn't expect the same innocent humor of ventriloquist Shari Lewis' Lamb Chop from Dunham's routine.

Some of his most popular characters include Achmed, a turban-sporting skeleton; Walter, a discontented and grumpy retiree; and a sarcastic talking jalapeno known as Jose.

"If I think it's a funny idea and can write a few jokes for him, plus if I think he will appeal to a good percentage of the audience, then I'll go with it," he said about the puppets. "But along with the successful characters, there is the trunk full of the characters that I call, 'What the hell was I thinking?' Tony the Talking Meatball probably tops that list."

Dunham is looking expand beyond the stage and TV.

"I hope in the near future that we can do a couple of films and bring the characters to life on the big screen," he said. "Plus continue to expand our presence worldwide."

Dunham's Kissimmee performance begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at ticketmaster.com.

An earlier version of this article misstated the first name of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen.